Our vision
We want to provide all pupils who choose Business Studies an overview and understanding of what constitutes the ‘world of business’. All pupils will, at some stage, work for one or more types of business and we want to enable pupils to understand as much of the work as possible.
We prepare pupils for multiple aspects of business life. They receive a rounded business education incorporating ownership of businesses, be it sole trader, multi-national organisation or not for profit, through to the main business functions of operations, human resources, marketing and finance and concluding with the external influence on business.
We want to link learning to the real world through case studies, up to date news articles and pupils’ prior knowledge of the business world. We use business case studies ranging from corner shops to Tesla and Apple to allow pupils to apply their knowledge and understanding and develop so develop their business schema.
Business Studies Curriculum
At BTEC level we give pupils a grounding in entrepreneurship, types of business and market research and then get pupils to apply this knowledge to business case studies. We start with the entrepreneur unit as this engages pupils and harnesses the key reason they chose the course. We then build on this knowledge to compare businesses using local firms as case studies.
We ensure that we cover the key sectors that are important to the local economy. For example, we address important issues in the retail sector when we discuss entrepreneurs and the setting up of retail businesses. BTEC pupils also complete a whole unit on the setting up of an enterprise. We focus on the manufacturing sector, through the operations and quality unit at GCSE, and we discuss agriculture, critical to the local economy, on the BTEC course when we ask pupils to analyse government data and produce analysis for the National Farmers Union. These are just a few examples of how we bring the pupils’ own knowledge and lived experiences into a vocational context to develop understanding.
Upon completion of the course, pupils will not only understand the curriculum content for the terminal examinations but will also have the knowledge that allows them to progress to the next stage of their business education and eventually to become a more erudite employee or dynamic entrepreneur.
Pupils will develop literacy and numeracy skills throughout the course. These skills will allow them to access the financial elements of the course, whilst ensuring that they are able to communicate and apply their knowledge to case studies in an analytical manner.
We encourage all pupils to try and keep up with the world around them, encouraging pupils to take an interest in the business world and what is happening today, helps to make their learning more relevant. Parents can help their children understand these changes by encouraging them to watch the news, or to read news headlines on the internet or by simply talking and sharing news and pertinent developments with their children.
The schemes of work follow the GCSE specification and are sequenced in a logical order to ensure we can revisit previously completed work, for recall, but more importantly for a holistic understanding of the subject. Lessons are structured by unit to give pupils an introduction to Business Studies and then to build upon this knowledge, with operations (making products and services) human resources (getting the right people to make the products or services), influences on businesses (such as external impacts on the production process), marketing (selling products to customers and consumers) and finishing with finance (calculating profit or lesson from the whole process).
Assessment
All assessment is via external examination, there are two written exams. Both examinations are 1 hour 45 minutes and consist of 90 marks with each paper comprising 50% of the GCSE. Questions are a mixture of multiple choice, short answers and case study stimuli long answers.